Bob
Costs vary with this ply/glass cat. We have seen one on the
water for $80K AUD. It was very nice however, smaller than ours (around the 10m - 11m mark and completed in late 2002). The plans target the amateur person and exclude many of the more complicated build items such as mechanical/hydraulic
steering, using simple hand-tillers. We have chosen to include items such as a alternate
steering, separate vanity area, fridge,
oven and additional
storage (to mention a few) and expect to come in around the $125k AUD mark. So far, its running to
budget. I suspect too that if you are looking for the 'super-gloss-smooth'
paint finish found on the pro cats, that that will add to the cost. We are contemplating getting the final coat done by a 'Pro' at the moment and they already want to use other
paint brands (for whatever reason) that are 30% outside our paint budget costs.
Hours wise, we are planning on 2500, remembering that we got the bare hulls and lower bridgedeck made for us by the
designer. That definitely gave us a jump-start and allowed us to steam along to where we are now.
While I am not 'plugging' this design type, I (like other amateurs) believed that these cats targeted the wealthy professionals only and were out of the reach of the bare amateur such as myself. As a footnote, it is definitely an advantage to be a little timber savvy, have time on your side and a strong will to succeed. There are other builders who are also on the Web building this type, send me an
email to
puremajek@dodo.com.au and I'll send you contact data.
Hope this helps, merry Xmas
James